During the lifetime of a patient, it may be necessary to perform a joint replacement procedure on the patient as a result of, for example, disease or trauma. The joint replacement procedure may involve the use of a prosthesis which is implanted into one of the patient's bones. In the case of a hip replacement procedure, a femoral prosthesis is implanted into the patient's femur. Such a femoral prosthesis typically includes a spherically-shaped head component which bears against the patient's natural or prosthetic acetabulum, along with an elongated intramedullary femoral stem component which is implanted in the patient's femur. To secure the femoral stem component to the patient's femur, the intramedullary canal of the patient's femur is first surgically prepared (e.g., broached) such that the femoral stem component may be subsequently implanted therein.
In some designs, the femoral stem component is implanted in the patient's femur by use of cementless fixation. One type of such a design is known as a ‘fit and fill’ stem component. The rationale of such a design is that contact between the stem and bone tissue of the patient is increased relative to other designs and, therefore, provides fixation stability and improved long-term bone remodeling of the patient's femur.